Ukraine

• Russia launched a new effort to capture the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, which would give it full control of Luhansk. Ukrainian forces are staunchly defending the city, suggesting Zelensky isn't willing to cede the Donbas to Russia.

• An Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp Colonel was assassinated by gunmen on motorcycles outside of his Tehran home in broad daylight yesterday. Iran blamed foreign "terrorists," i.e. Mossad, but hasn't captured the assassins yet.

• PM Dbeibah plans to visit UN SecGen Guterres in New York "soon" to lobby for legitimacy over rival PM Bashagha. Dbeibah's supporters say the UN approved his visit, but that seems misleading given that the UN is pushing the rival PMs to work together and not overtly picking a side.

• An arbiter's ruling found "overwhelming evidence" that Beny Steinmetz's BSG Resources won its licenses for the giant Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea "through corrupt practices" - like directly or indirectly paying former first lady Mamadie Touré at least $9.42 million for her help securing permits. The arbiter doesn't have jurisdiction in the case, but its findings certainly won't help Steinmetz overturn his Swiss conviction for corruption.

• New cases of monkeypox are popping up outside of Africa (where it's endemic), and that's concerning scientists because the virus seems to have evolved to spread more easily. However, experts insist it's "not COVID-two" - especially because the world is better prepared for managing the spread of viruses than it was in 2020.